Security clampdown as war vets head back to the beaches
War veterans flooding into France this weekend to take part in events marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day can expect to face tight security.
World leaders, including US President George Bush, will be in Normandy for the commemorations, and the French authorities have drafted in about 9,000 troops to counter any terrorist threat.
They have established a no-fly zone along the northern coastline and have warned that any aircraft violating it will be shot out of the sky, the BBC reports.
The D-Day landings saw 135,000 Allied troops, mainly British and American, storm ashore on five beaches on June 6, 1944, as the first stage of Operation Overlord, the invasion of mainland Europe. Many thousands died in a withering hail of gunfire from German defenders.
As part of the security clampdown, police patrols are being stepped up across France, and there will random checks on passengers at railway stations. Border controls have been reinstated, and in Normandy, anti-aircraft missile batteries and Mirage fighter jets have been put in place in case they are needed. The French Navy will patrol a maritime exclusion zone.
Phil Davies
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